Page 7 - increasing-the-value-of-age-guidance-in-employers-age-management-strategies

Increasing the value of age: guidance in employers’ age management strategies

Foreword

Due to falling fertility rates since the 1960s, Europe’s population is ageing, with
growing impact on its labour force. In consequence, many European States have
raised pension age and designed incentives for people to stay longer in
employment.
This results in a steady increase of participation among older workers and a
change in attitude towards retirement. The 2012 Eurobarometer survey on active
ageing highlights that ‘one third of Europeans […] would like to continue working
after they reach retirement age, and the idea of combining a part-time job and a
partial pension is a more appealing prospect than full retirement to almost two
thirds of Europeans’ (European Commission, 2012b, p. 1).
Increasing employment of older adults requires European States to support
their citizens to enjoy longer fulfilling careers. Ageing individuals face specific
career development challenges such as growing health limitations, skills
obsolescence, and changing personal priorities. At the same time, they have
enormous value for organisations and the economy, due to their accumulated
experience, skills and knowledge.
While age management strategies are increasing everywhere in
organisations and firms across Europe, they are not necessarily supported by
consistent policies and systems; and most still fail to exploit fully the potential of
guidance.
Guidance activities specifically help older workers to reflect about their
professional experiences and assess their skills, needs and expectations. They
support informed decisions on further training, retraining and development of key
skills. Guidance can also help reflect about possible scenarios for part-time work,
redeployment in new functions in organisations or the development of entirely
new activities. It can assist older workers in planning their mature career stages
and exit strategies in a structured, informed way, increasing their motivation and
productive contribution.
Guidance also supports firms in fully harnessing the potential of their human
resources, not only via the assessment of skills and knowledge, but also by
enabling better allocation of available resources and the transmission of
knowledge between generations of workers. It is a useful complement to
validation procedures and the planning of training. When implemented in a
lifelong perspective, guidance allows for even more effective age management
strategies, with smooth integration in internal processes and covering all of an
enterprise’s staff.

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